


Surrender

by DarklyDreamingDixon



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Aftercare, Alternate Universe - BDSM, BDSM Scene, Cock & Ball Torture, Crying, Dom/sub, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Falling In Love, Feelings, First Dates, Hair-pulling, Hurt/Comfort, Just wanted to put a dick in an ass, Leg Humping, Light CBT, M/M, More than porn now, Nipple Clamps, Nipple Play, Obedience, Porn with Feelings, Praise Kink, ProfessionalDom!Daryl, Riding Crops, Rutting, Spanking, St. Andrew's Cross, Submission, Subspace, Vibrators, Whipping, and now look what happened, bdsm club, submissive!Rick
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-04
Updated: 2017-11-13
Packaged: 2018-11-23 12:32:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11402472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarklyDreamingDixon/pseuds/DarklyDreamingDixon
Summary: Rick goes to a professional Dom to get the punishment he think's he deserves.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Been a while since I posted here. Not beta'd. Written in one-day. My intention was for a one-shot, but could be continued if there's an interest!

Rick sat nervously in the waiting room. It felt more like a doctor’s office than a BDSM Club except instead of months-old People magazines he was surrounded by Playboys, Playgirls and Hustlers. He wasn’t in the party area, he was in the private area waiting for his session. He’d found out a few months prior that his wife and best friend were having an affair... when they both died in a car accident on a night Lori was supposed to be at Book Club. His life in the months since had been overwhelming and exhausting. Funeral arrangements, grieving and being angry all at the same time. He didn’t get a new partner at work and instead drove alone mostly doing nothing more than giving out speeding tickets. People generally hated him. He generally hated him. And apparently so had Shane and Lori. 

He just wanted to get out of his head, to surrender control of his thoughts and in a sense to give himself the punishment he thought he deserved. What was it about him that made Lori and Shane hurt him like that? He’d tried a date or two recently but Jessie was too needy and Michonne was too intense. He didn’t want to have the responsibility of being in control of another relationship. He didn’t want to have to think… about anything. And he didn’t want to have anyone he could lose again, but he needed to get off somehow and he’d driven past The KingDOM almost daily during his shifts.

He’d finally called to make an appointment, eager to stop his constantly spiraling thoughts. Worries over bills, home repairs, work and the constantly returning thoughts about what had happened with Lori and Shane, alternating between sadness from losing them and anger over their disloyalty. He’d actually called the club several times before he booked a date and time. He’d talked to several of the women who answered the phones and chickened out before scheduling a session. But then a few nights ago a man answered and it seemed like that’s what Rick needed. He didn’t think he’d be able to relinquish control to a woman, but to a man? That seemed to fit for some reason. Daryl Dixon had asked a lot of questions about what Rick was looking for, what he liked and what he didn’t like and finally Rick decided to pull the trigger and book a session. 

When he got there, the woman at the desk introduced herself as Jadis and told Rick that his Dom was just finishing up with another client and would be out soon.

Rick sat for ten minutes tapping his foot nervously. He wasn’t afraid or embarrassed. He was just eager to get in the room and surrender. To give up control, thought, worry, emotion- everything. To just feel and exist without any complications.

“You Rick Grimes, sweetheart?” a raspy voice asked. Rick looked up to see a drop-dead gorgeous man in nothing but jeans and a leather vest, choppy dirty-blond hair and piercing eyes that made him stand up immediately, already eager to obey.

“Yeah. Daryl?”

“That’s right, but you can call me Sir from here on out.” He grabbed a clipboard and a form from behind the counter and put a hand on Rick’s shoulder to lead him down a dark hallway. “Last room on the right, sugar.”

When Rick didn’t respond, Daryl leaned in and whispered into his ear, “When I give you a direction, sweetheart, you answer with ‘Yes, Sir.’”

“Yes, Sir,” Rick responded quietly, the strength of his voice shriveling into no more than a sigh of words. 

When they got to the right room, Rick walked in and looked around. It was mostly concrete walls and cement floors. No windows. But there were thick Red velvet curtains hanging to give the room character. There was a giant wooden X that must have been some kind of BDSM device, hand cuffs hanging from the ceiling, a table, a throw rug and a couple of red velvet chairs in the corner. Daryl nodded at one. “Sit down, sugar. Let’s talk first.”

Rick sat and Daryl followed suit. “I didn’t think talking would be involved here. I just want to… I just wanna give up control. Get away from myself.”

“I understand that and you will, but there are a few things I like to understand first before a session. I want this to be really good for you, Rick and in order to do that I need to understand you a bit. I promise it will be worth your while.”

“I’m just eager to feel something and forget everything.”

Daryl nodded. “Okay, then, sweetheart. How about this, take off your clothes for me. Let’s have you be a little open and vulnerable while we talk. Help keep your mind on the present. You can sit down here on the floor once you strip. Get used to looking up to me.” 

Rick stood and obeyed only feeling slightly silly. When he sat cross legged at Daryl’s feet he already started to feel the weight on his shoulders become a little lighter. He felt like a kindergartener waiting for his teacher to tell a story.

“I gave you direction, Rick. You did a good job of obeying it but you forgot something, didn’t you?”

“Oh, Yes, Sir. Sorry, Sir.”

“Good boy,” Daryl responded running fingers through Rick’s thick overgrown curls. His touch was incredibly relaxing and Rick wanted to lean into it like a dog leans into it’s owner’s affection.

“So I need to know your limits, your likes, your wants, your needs.” Daryl had a pencil and scribbled something on the form. “You said on the phone this would be your first time with a Dom. Do you understand what a safeword is, Rick?”

Rick nodded. “I watched some Dom/sub porn before I finally called. Umm.. Sir.”

“Good boy. Tell me what your safeword will be.”

“Ummm...Red?”

Daryl nodded. “Easy to remember. That will work. How do you feel about being gagged?”

“I don’t want to make any decisions, Daryl...Sir, I want you to make them. That’s why I’m here.”

Daryl sighed a bit as if he’d had this kind of battle with clients many times in the past. “Okay, I’ll move forward faster here. If I have a ball gag in your mouth and you can’t speak, I want you to snap as your safeword. Do you understand?”

Rick nodded.

“Snap now so I can make sure you can do it.”

Rick snapped twice and looked up at Daryl’s crystalline blue eyes, so excited to get that look of praise.

“So for smacking- Paddle, whip, riding crop, belt, hand. Are all of those okay with you?”

Rick nodded and Daryl jotted something down.

“What pain level 0-10 are you comfortable with?”

“Ten.”

Daryl laughed. “Oh, sugar. You newbies are always so damn cute. We’ll do some exercises on pain levels when we start, okay?”

“Okay… Sir,” Rick blushed feeling like a clueless virgin again and still feeling a touch awkward at using the word Sir to address this man that couldn’t be any older than he was. In fact, he was likely a few years younger.

“If I remember right from the phone, you are interested in humiliation, but not verbal humiliation. That right?”

“Yeah. I mean yes, Sir.” Rick didn’t want to be yelled at, he just wanted to be controlled. He yelled at himself enough in his own head. What he couldn’t seem to do was punish himself physically and that’s what he’d been craving.

“Are marks okay or not?”

“I want them, Sir. Want the reminders for when I’m not here.”

“Okay, anal play, nipple play, bondage? Any of that off limits?”

“All okay,” Rick said, his cock really starting to stir at the conversation alone.

“CBT, sounding?”

“I’m not sure what those are, Sir,” Rick answered fidgeting a bit and putting his hands over his erection.

“Cock and ball torture, basically pain play with those sensitive parts,” Daryl answered nodding towards Rick’s hand-covered cock.

“I’d be willing to try it,” Rick answered. He felt fairly certain that would empty his mind for sure.

“And sounding is putting a long thin rod into your urethra,” he said as he took Rick’s hand out of his lap and placed it firmly palm down on the cement floor and then did the same with the other. “Don’t be ashamed of your dick getting hard, Rick. Ain’t that part of why you’re here?”

Rick nodded.

“No more hands on your dick. Not to cover it up, not to play with yourself, not even to hold it while you take a leak, understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good boy,” Daryl said as he waited patiently for Rick to respond to the sounding question. 

Finally Rick realized what the wait was for. “Um… maybe no to the metal rod thing. Sir.”

“Okay, good to know. Do you want to come today, Rick? What are your thoughts on orgasm control and denial?”

“I just want you to be in control of everything. I don’t want to think anymore. Are we… are we done with this part?”

Daryl smiled and gave Rick a wink. He stood up and hung the clipboard on a nail by the door. “I think that’s enough for us to get started today. Up on your knees. Remind me of your safeword again, sweetheart.”

“Red, Sir,” Rick answered as he moved into the requested position.

“And if you can’t use your voice?”

Rick snapped his fingers.

“Good boy.” Daryl smiled and petted against Rick’s curls again as Rick let his eyelids flutter shut and his forehead lean against Daryl’s hip. “You like being a good boy, don’t you?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“But yet here you are in my dungeon and I’ve got a paddle with your name on it. Hands and knees, Rick. You may be a sweet, innocent looking thing, but something tells me you deserve exactly what I’m going to be doling out. You think that’s accurate?”

“Yes, Sir,” Rick answered moving into position, his cock and balls dangling uselessly between his legs. Daryl tied a blindfold on him. “Don’t want you to have to worry with vision. One less sense so you can concentrate on feeling.” 

Rick heard the sound of one of the Dom’s tools being removed from the hooks on the wall and he felt the gentle swipe of a small, flat, flexible surface slide from his neck, down his spine and over the crack of his ass. “This is a riding crop.” 

Rick felt a few very light swats on each cheek and he suppressed the urge to demand for it to be harder. “Think you can handle it harder, Rick?” Daryl whispered, his lips suddenly ghosting breath over his right ear. 

“Do it. I mean...yes, Sir.”

“Manner’s, Rick. I feel like you are getting a little too demanding,” Daryl said, toying with him.

“Please, Sir.”

“That’s it. Good boys always remember their please and thank you’s.” He swatted at both cheeks again with more intensity and it did jolt Rick a little.

“Thank you, Sir. Harder, please,” his request had started to sound more like begging, the tone of his voice faint and breathless.

“I don’t want to go overboard, Rick. How about you count for me as I test your boundaries? Don’t forget your safeword, sweetheart. We’re going to move faster now.”

“Yes, Sir, please,” Rick whined. And before he could finish the sentence he felt a harsh, hard smack on his ass with the crop. The force of it knocked a groan out of him and his head swirled with adrenaline before he could remember to gasp out a “One.”

Daryl continued, finally leaving the directions and questions behind them. Two, three, four, five. Then five to the next cheek, then sliding the crop up and down his crack. He gave two more whacks without warning to each of Rick’s outer thighs and both elicited a growl of ecstasy from Rick. The stinging pain was so all consuming that his brain literally shut off all other thoughts. It was just what he wanted. 

“More, please, Sir,” Rick whimpered. 

He felt Daryl’s fingers slide into his curls, grip hard and force his head up as if he was trying to get eye contact through the blindfold. “Forehead and shoulders on the ground. And use your hands to spread your cheeks for me, sweetheart.” When he let go of Rick’s hair, Rick scrambled into position, feeling his face redden with embarrassment at the extremely vulnerable and humiliating position. He felt a light kick of Daryl’s boot to each knee. “Spread your legs wider for me, Sugar.”

“Yes, Sir,” Rick mumbled into the throw rug.

From behind him, he felt Daryl drag the flat of the crop up and down the length of his hard and leaking cock several times until it ended with a soft thwap of it against Rick’s dick. He jumped and groaned. Daryl didn’t move or speak, probably giving Rick a moment to regain his thoughts and consider safewording but Rick stayed quiet and in position. Daryl gave his cock a few more light taps before he ran it up and down Rick’s spread-wide crack. And then a sudden, rather intense swat of the crop hit his balls and he felt tears well up immediately and stream down his cheeks. He sobbed at the sudden unexpected sensation but followed it up with. “Thank you, Sir,” to make sure Daryl knew he wasn’t going to safeword out.

For an amount of time that Rick wasn’t able to keep track of, Daryl smacked at Rick’s exposed hole lightly with the crop, alternating between that and swats to his thighs and biceps. Rick could feel his cock leaking onto the rug below him. His cock was tingling with the currents of sharp pain that surged through his body with each smack. His world was so small, just him and Daryl in this room, and nothing in his brain but sensation. It was just what he wanted.

When Daryl finally stopped and ordered him to sit up on his knees, Rick was slow to obey. His body was achy and stiff, already sore but he reveled in the feeling. It would keep his mind busy for some time. 

Daryl pulled the blindfold off. “You’re rock hard there, darlin’,” he pointed out with the crop that was still in his hand. “We’re almost done with your time. Would you like me to help you come?”

“Yes. Please, Sir,” Rick whispered.

“Well, you know the rules, sweetheart. We talked about it on the phone. No actual fucking, which is a pity because I just adore that ruby red ass of yours. But I want you feeling good when you walk out of here, Rick. Want you to come back and see me.” He put a booted foot between Rick’s legs. 

“Why don’t you grab onto my leg, sweetheart. And hump it with that leaking dick of yours until you come for me.”

Rick’s insides we’re like a rollercoaster of excitement and he felt a blush creeping up his neck and into his cheeks. 

“I asked you to do something, sugar,” Daryl said evenly. 

“Yes, Sir,” Rick said as he wrapped his arms around Daryl’s legs and slowly started rutting against his jeans. It felt amazing to add friction against his dick at the same time that his skin was still stinging from all the smacks. His eyes were screwed tightly closed at the embarrassment of humping this man like a dog.

“Rick?” he heard Daryl whisper. “Why don’t you open those pretty blue eyes and look at me while you’re fucking my leg?”

“Yes, Sir,” Rick whimpered, the order itself somehow adding to build of his climax. He felt so vulnerable letting Daryl’s piercing stare drink him in while he was naked on the floor, writhing against his leg, desperate to come.

Daryl spread his fingers into Rick’s sweat-damp hair and massaged his scalp. “That’s a good boy. You gonna come for me, sweetheart?” And that was all it took. Rick’s body felt like it was tipping off a cliff and rocketing to an explosion.

“Fuuuck,” Rick groaned, his eyes slamming shut as he rocked out his orgasm on Daryl’s strong, sturdy leg. “Fuck,” he gasped again, his forehead against Daryl’s thigh. “Thank you, Sir,” he finally managed as Daryl stroked a hand through his hair.

“Good boy, sweetheart. You gonna come back and see me again?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bad day = Disappearing into a fic. So here y'all go! 
> 
> Unbeta'd, so beware!

A week later the purples and blues from Rick’s bruises had nearly faded and he sat again in the weird fetish waiting room anxiously tapping a foot. He felt so fucking good when he left the KingDOM the week prior and he knew instantly that he’d be coming back. He’d jerked off to thoughts of Daryl all week and the continued soreness from his session kept his mind from spinning too far out of control. When the colors were fading, he picked up the phone for another session and requested Daryl by name. Hell, he usually liked to have the same dental technician. Why should this be any different? He had gotten comfortable with Daryl and he was eager as hell to even just hear his soft raspy voice again. 

“You came back to me, sweetheart.”

Rick looked up to see Daryl. He looked the same, jeans and a leather vest, that same commanding stare. They went back to the same room and this time there was no paperwork.

“Take your clothes off, Rick, and kneel.” His tone was so demanding, so guttural and so gentle all at the same time and Rick stripped naked and went to his knees with nothing more than a quick “Yes, Sir.”

Daryl walked around him slowly looking him over. “My marks are fading,” he said. “Is that why you came back? You need more?”

“Yes, Sir. Please.”

“What’s your safeword, Rick?”

“Red.”

“And if-”

Rick snapped his fingers before Daryl had even finished asking the question.

“Good boy,” Daryl purred as he ran his fingers through Rick’s hair. “Is that all you want, Rick? Or do you want to cum for me again, too?”

“Both, please, Sir.” There was something about the way Daryl said his name- _Rick_ that was starting to make him hard already.

“That was the answer I was hoping for, sweetheart. I have some new things in mind tonight.” Daryl turned back to a shelf and brought out a ball gag with holes in it. He held it up for Rick to look at. “You going to be a good boy for me tonight? Let me try my new things?” 

Rick’s mouth had gone dry and he couldn’t do anything more than nod as Daryl was belting the gag in place. “Don’t want you to have to worry with the ‘Yes, Sir’s’ tonight, sugar. Just want to hear those moans and groans. Maybe some cries, huh?” Daryl whispered.

The ball gag was making him salivate like crazy and he felt some of it already spilling through the holes and running down his chin as Daryl walked back and forth looking to select a new implement for his punishment. “Let’s start with some nipple clamps. Wanna get these little pink nubs all swollen and sensitive.” He grabbed the clamps from his shelf and tugged at one nipple. He pinched it tight between his fingers and tugged on it until Rick finally whimpered at the sensation and then he clipped on the clamp. The sting of it was tight but not as bad as Rick had anticipated. Daryl did the same with the other nipple and Rick gasped at the sudden dual sensations, drool running embarrassingly down his chin. Daryl looked back at his shelves. 

“You know? I think you deserve some old school punishment. None of this whips and chains stuff. You know I can put a bruise on you in the exact shape of my hand. I think that’s the route we’ll go, sweetheart.” He walked over and sat down in one of the red chairs. It had no arms and was long enough to be considered more of a short sofa. 

“Why don’t you come over here and lay across my lap?”

Rick started to stand. “No, no, no, sugar. You crawl. When you are in this room, you stay on your knees unless I specify otherwise.” 

Rick nodded and crawled with his head down, eyes on the hard floor. It sank his stomach a bit to have heard Daryl scold him. He rather liked being a good boy. When he reached Daryl, Rick nuzzled his head against his Dom’s thigh in apology. Daryl carded fingers through his hair. “You’re sorry? Is that what you’re doing, Rick? Apologizing?”

Rick nodded but didn’t look up.

“Look at me, sweetheart,” Daryl ordered softly.

When Rick did he knew his glassy, red eyes would give away his emotion. Daryl quickly put a hand softly to Rick’s cheek. “It’s okay, Darlin’. You didn’t do anything bad. You didn’t know any better. I hadn’t told you that rule yet. You’re still my good boy, okay?”

Rick nodded. He had no idea why the reprimand had made him so emotional. He just wanted the pain to start again so he could escape, get out of his head, disappear.

Daryl patted his lap and guided Rick up to lay across it. “This is a more intimate discipline session with you across me and my hand against your ass. I think you’ll respond well to this, Rick,” Daryl said as he rubbed circles over the fading bruise on his ass. “I’m going to go harder this time. You remember to snap your fingers for me, sweetheart, okay?”

Rick nodded, a string of drool finally reaching the floor. The first few taps were disappointing. Rick had thought Daryl was going to go harder but he’d apparently just been getting him warmed up because out of nowhere a slap met the fleshy meat of his ass with a swack that echo’d through the small room. Daryl gave a similar smack to the other cheek and then kept up a steady pace of smacks. The nipple clamps hung heavy from Rick’s nipples and they swayed with each hit giving his body an even more delicious sensation.

His eyes drifted close as he left his mind and only registered the stings to his ass and the swinging tugs to his nipples as his body moved forward with each hit. It was nothing but a safe circle of pain, Daryl surrounding him, one hand smacking heavy against the round cups of his ass and the other gripped tightly into his hair to hold him in place. It was delirious ecstasy. It was nothing but this, nothing but now.

Finally the blows to his ass slowed and morphed into the gentle rubbing of Daryl’s palm against the new bruises that Rick was eager to see in the mirror. He didn’t want to open his eyes, didn’t want to leave where he was. He felt like he was floating.

“I’m wondering, sweetheart, if you’re craving something a bit more sexual. You ever have anything in your ass, Rick?”

Rick shook his head and whimpered at the thought, the pain it must cause to be split open like that. 

“Well, you know the rules. I can’t fuck you. But I can use something on you. Can I do that, Rick? Stretch you apart? Split you wide open with a plug or a dildo and watch you squirm on it?

Rick nodded and moaned, bucking his hard cock against Daryl’s jean-clad thigh. 

“Okay, sweetheart. On the floor and crawl over to the Saint’ Andrew’s cross like a good boy.”

As Rick did what he was told, he could feel Daryl’s eyes on his ass. “That’s it good boy,” Daryl encouraged as he walked beside him. “Now stand and face the cross so I can buckle you in.”

Once Rick was affixed to the cross and at Daryl’s mercy, he thought his cock might very well explode. The feeling of helplessness turned him on like crazy. He felt Daryl run something up and down his crack, most likely the crop from last week. “Stick your ass out for me a little, Sugar,” Daryl ordered and Rick obeyed instantly. 

He felt a cold dribble of lube run down his crack from the top to the bottom, way more than probably needed and suddenly he felt the tip of one of the dildos trace a path along the slickness. “It’s going to stretch and sting. I’ll go slow and you snap if I need to stop.” Daryl yanked on Rick’s hair so that his head was forced to turn towards his Dom. “Open your eyes, Sugar, and look at me.”

Rick obeyed. “What a good boy,” Daryl whispered. “You’re beautiful, Rick. Has anyone ever told you that?” 

Rick shook his head no. No one had. 

“I really enjoy looking at you. Love seeing your reactions. I think you’ll like this, Rick. Be good for me now.” Daryl let go of Rick’s hair and focused back on the dildo at his ass. He started to nuzzle it in between Rick’s cheeks and pressed just hard enough for his hole to be forced open. Rick grunted. 

“That’s it,” Daryl whispered. “Open up for me.”

He slowly, carefully pressed the dildo in, inch by agonizing inch and Rick let his head fall backwards at the sensations of his still stinging ass cheeks spreading for the breach of the dildo. It did stretch and it did sting and his body was on fire. Cheeks freshly bruised, nipples being tugged on by the clamps, his ass stretched to capacity and suddenly Daryl flipped a switch that made the silicone cock in his ass start to vibrate. 

He groaned and moaned around the ball gag, pressing his cock against the smooth wood of the cross in a desperate attempt for friction. Daryl left the vibrating plug in Rick’s ass and walked around to the other side of the cross to look at Rick’s face. He ran his hands lightly up and down Rick’s sides then held on to each of the nipple clamps. “Fuck yourself against the cross, Rick. I want you to come with that plug up your ass.” And right after the order, Daryl pulled off the nipple plugs.

The pain from removing them was unexpected as the blood rushed back into the swollen nubs and it shot a throbbing extacy from his chest to his core to his ass to his cock and he rocked into the cross one last time, crying around the ball-gag as he came like a fire hydrant, pulsing long after he thought he should have stopped. 

His vision went white and his muscles went week as he collapsed, only remaining standing because of the cuffs that locked him into place. Daryl slid the plug out of him and brushed the sweaty hair out of Rick’s eyes. “I knew you’d like that, sugar,” Daryl whispered. And just the sound of that rough voice by Rick’s ear made his soft, exhausted dick twitch.

“I’m going to uncuff you now, need you to be strong and steady and carefully sit down on the floor for me,” Daryl said as he unbuckled the ball gag.

Rick carefully sank to the floor after all the cuffs were removed, his knees weak and his ass pleasurably sore as he sat down on it. Daryl walked away for a moment and returned with a blanket and a bottle of water and ti wasn’t until then that Rick realized he was shivering. Daryl wrapped him in the blanket, opened the water and handed it to him. 

Rick shook his head. He wasn’t sure his arms could work to even reach for the bottle. 

“It’s not a request, sweetheart, it’s an order,” Daryl said gently. Rick nodded and took the bottle, draining it in just a few gulps. Daryl sat on the floor beside him, checking the bruises on his now-protruding nipples. He had a wet washcloth and he wiped the sweat from Rick’s forehead and then cleaned off the cum from his belly. 

“You were a perfect boy for me, Rick. Did you get what you needed today?”

Rick blinked, taking a second to remember that the gag was gone and he could actually respond. “Yes, Sir.”

Daryl smiled as he wiped the drool that had accumulated on Rick’s chin. “When you’re having a bad day at work, Rick, you think of this, you think of me and you’ll feel all better.”

“I know I will,” Rick answered with a snort. “Thank you, Daryl.”

It wasn’t until Daryl was walking him out to the lobby that Rick noticed he hadn’t been scolded for saying Daryl instead of sir. 

“Maybe you’ll come see me again, Rick?” Daryl asked.

“Yeah,” Rick laughed. “I will. Definitely.”

Daryl pushed some of Rick’s curls out of his eyes. “Don’t come on Thursdays, sweetheart. That’s my day off and I’m usually over at the Hilltop Bar and Grill having a beer.”

Rick looked at his Dom with a smile. Was that an invitation?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Left wide open for more!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still unbeta'd.

It was Thursday and Rick stood in front of his bathroom mirror trying to make a decision. Does he show up at the Hilltop Bar and Grill at Daryl’s subtle invitation? Does he just make an appointment for another session over the weekend? Does he just forget all this and try to get his life back to normal?

He looked down at his still-swollen and bruised nipples, running gentle fingers over one of them. It stirred sensations through him from the rim of his ass to the tip of his cock. It made the stinging bruises on his ass cheeks flare up with excitement. So option three was obviously off the table.

Rick was not a complete moron. He really did feel like Daryl possibly enjoyed his work a little more with Rick than he did with other clients. And that look in Daryl's eyes when he mentioned the Hilltop. It was commanding. Almost an order than a simple mention. And when it came down to it, Rick simply wanted to _see_ Daryl. So he pulled on a tan button up and some tight jeans, attempted to straighten his curls the best he could and got into his car, setting the GPS to Hilltop.

Rick wasn't sure what he expected. A gay bar maybe with pride flags all over the place? Definitely not the low key down-to-earth pub that it was. He walked in nervous as shit. He wasn't really the type to go places himself and what if Daryl decided not to show, or worse what if he had someone else already with him. 

As he looked around the tavern he was surprised to see that it wasn't particularly crowded and Daryl was easily spotted at the bar. He was in a tight blue button-up and dark blue jeans and he looked absolutely tantalizing. Rick hadn't realized submitting to a male Dom would turn him onto men, but the sight of Daryl's shoulders, his hips, his strong, manly outline was becoming a an absolute turn on. His cock stirred at just the mere sight of him.

Daryl met his eyes before Rick even reached him. 

 

“Hey, Daryl. Just thought I’d stop in for a beer.” Rick noticed a bottle of Miller sitting at the bar next to Daryl. “You here with someone?”

“Yeah, you,” Daryl said moving the beer closer to Rick. 

“Oh! This is for me?”

“Yup.”

“You knew I’d come?”

“Yup.”

“How?” Rick asked with a smile as he sat on the barstool.

“I’m good at reading people.”

“I’m not bad at it either,” Rick said with a bit of confidence.

“Oh really?” Daryl smiled. “So what have you been reading then?”

“I think you like seeing me,” Rick said simply.

Daryl smiled wide and took a long slow pull off his bottle of beer. “Well, I’ll be damned. You ain’t bad at reading afterall.”

“So… is this a date? Is this how a professional Dom gets a date?” Rick asked with a grin.

“Guess so. I ain’t really had any actual dates.”

“YOU haven’t had a date? How is that possible? You’re fucking gorgeous.”

“Most people who come to me just want the corporal punishment, want the verbal abuse and humiliation and then want to get the fuck up on out of there. Not you. You want affection and praise. Want to please me and you’re curious about me. I can tell.”

“So how does one become a professional Dom,” Rick asked.

“Well, hmm. No one’s ever asked.”

“Well, I’m asking,” Rick said with that bright smile.

Daryl looked at his beer as he responded. “Didn’t have much money growing up. Lost my parents young and ain’t had no opportunity for formal education. Zeke, he runs the KindDOM, he known me since I was young. Always said I could make bank with my body so I took some tricks for a while through the club.” Daryl paused and looked over at Rick. “That disgust you?”

Rick shook his head. “We all got our history, man. Sorry about your folks.”

“Fuck ‘em. They gave away services like mine for free if you get my drift. Still got scars. Anyway, I didn’t like being a prostitute. Wanted more control and less… having to do shit I didn’t want to do. Started up a conversation with this guy Negan at the club. He was the only male Dom at the time. Learned some shit and told Zeke I wanted that gig too. Turns out I’m pretty good at it. Got a lot of regulars now.”

Rick nodded. “And you like it, too. At least with me,” Rick flirted.

“Shut up, Asshole,” Daryl answered, blushing. 

They took another drink each of them looking over at the other. “I’m fucking sorry about your wife and your buddy, dude. That shit was seriously fucked up. And you seem like too goddamn nice of a guy for that to happen to.”

Rick nodded and motioned for two more from the bartender. “Thanks.” 

“So, you like… the service I provide?” Daryl asked.

“Very. Fucking. Much.” Rick answered, looking Daryl straight in the eyes with each word. “Do you like providing it?”

“I sure as shit like providing it to _you_ ,” Daryl answered as he accepted his second beer.

Rick took a sip and looked around the empty bar. “I didn’t think you’d be so shy in public.”

“Ain’t never been on a real date before, man. Fuck off.”

“You never had a boyfriend or girlfriend or anything?”

“No man, always been working. I’m clean though. I get tested every month and since I been doing the Dom gig I don’t even gotta touch anyone like that.”

Rick laughed. “You are fucking adorable.”

“You may think so now, but if I talk your ass into going home with me, you’ll see I’m still going to be the one in charge here.” 

I shot of electricity buzzed through Rick at the low growl of Daryl’s words. “God, I fucking hope so,” Rick whispered. 

“Come home with me tonight,” Daryl said. It was a cross between a question and a demand. Rick took it as demand and drained his beer. “Yes, Sir,” he whispered close to Daryl’s ear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just winging it but I hope you like where it's going.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unbeta'd so think of this as like an easter egg hunt where you get a prize for the errors you find instead of just getting annoyed at the sloppy writing!
> 
> p.s.- I have no idea where this thing is going but if ya'll are enjoying the read I guess I'll keep putting words on the page!

Rick followed Daryl home and they pulled into a modest two-bedroom house on an oak tree lined street.

“Nice house,” Rick said as they walked up to the front door. 

Daryl smiled guilty. “Eighty bucks an hour adds up.”

“Yes, I _know_ ,” Rick answered with a flirty glare. He had started wondering just how long he was going to be able to afford those sessions and as he walked up the porch steps he realized that he was basically getting a free pass. And maybe not just for the night. Rick wasn’t sure if he was happy about that or not. He didn’t want to lose Daryl like he did with Shane and Lori. Didn’t want to lose him through cheating or death. Though he had no idea what constitutes cheating when you’re with someone who is basically a sex worker. Maybe he shouldn’t have come. Maybe he should have just kept coughing up the eighty bucks to keep from falling. 

“Kinda why I dropped my not so subtle hint to meet me out,” Daryl explained as he unlocked the door. “Didn’t want you to keep dropping that kinda money on a cop’s salary. Specially not if I wanted more than what I could give you at the club. Days of Zeke allowing illegal prostitution are way over and he tries to keep the place legal now. You know, on account of we get cops sniffing around.” Daryl grinned and nudged at Rick with an elbow.

“Wasn’t there for police business. Was there to erase it all,” Rick said as Daryl held the door open for him and allowed Rick to walk in first. The house was very minimalist. Daryl certainly didn’t sling around money on fancy living. The place read bachelor pad for sure. A computer on in the corner of the living room. A few empty boxes of take-out Chinese on the coffee table, bills spread out on the kitchen island and at least half a dozen mismatched socks strung around the living room floor.

“What’s with the socks?” Rick asked.

“My feet get hot,” Daryl answered defensively.

“Then why do you put them on in the first place?” 

“Cause they’re cold.”

Daryl couldn’t stop smiling as he started to throw away the take out and fold the throw blanket as he talked. “So are you up for a little fun then? Free of charge?” he asked.

“God, yes,” Rick answered as he sunk to his knees. 

“Not yet,” Daryl said holding a hand down to help Rick back up. He ran his fingers through Rick’s curls and leaned in slowly, capturing his plump lips in a soft and gentle kiss. Rick was quite thrown off guard. The gentleness of this kiss made him weak kneed and dizzy. He’d never thought about kissing a man before, never thought about any of this until recently. But he felt like he was right where he was supposed to be, in the arms of a strong man who liked to look at him and kiss him and flirt with him. He hadn’t felt wanted in years.

Daryl slowly pulled away and Rick leaned forward trying to keep hold of the kiss.

“Been thinking about those lips since I first seen yah,” Daryl said as Rick licked the taste of Daryl from his own now-abandoned lips. “ _Now_ you can get on your knees,” Daryl commanded and Rick’s cock was suddenly rock hard, his whole body tingling in excitement for the sweet bursts of pain he knew Daryl would give him. “Strip first,” Daryl added as Rick was lowering himself obediently. He quickly stripped and knelt before Daryl naked not more than ten minutes after he walked into the house.

“I don’t have as many fancy gadgets here at home,” Daryl said as he slowly walked around Rick, running his fingers through his curls as he walked. 

Rick didn’t respond, he just looked up at Daryl with desperate eyes, enjoying the feel of the other man’s fingers in his hair. It wasn’t that he necessarily needed the escape or surrender this time. He just wanted Daryl’s touch, his marks, his attention. This was unexpected, feelings. He’d originally started this to get away from feelings.

Daryl sat down on a chair opposite Rick. “I just want to look at you for a little bit,” he said softly.

“Okay,” Rick answered, foregoing the Sir.

Daryl bit on his lip. “How long were you married?”

“Five years.”

“You more sad from the loss or more angry from the cheating?”

Rick squirmed a bit and Daryl took notice. 

“Put your hands behind your neck, hold your shoulders back for me. If you have to concentrate on a position, you won’t have to worry about what to do with your hands or your posture.”

“Thank you, Sir,” Rick answered softly.

“You can safeword out of conversation if you want, sweetheart.”

Rick blinked, considering it. “No. It’s okay. I mostly feel… guilty.”

Daryl looked surprised. “Why guilty, sweetheart?”

“If I was… like… better or something. A better husband, better friend, maybe they wouldn’t have been in that car that night.” Rick’s voice started to crack at the end and Daryl rushed to kneel in front of him kissing the corner of his eyes.”

“Didn’t know them, Rick, but I don’t think that shit’s on you.” Rick didn’t respond, just looked Daryl deep into those ocean blue eyes, trying to soak in that confidence and the reassurance that he shouldn’t be carrying the world’s weight of gold in guilt. Daryl kissed him again slowly on this lips. 

“Can I ask you a question now, Sir?” Rick asked, being careful to stay in the position Daryl requested of him.

“Yes, sugar. You an ask me a question.” They were both talking softly, library soft, secret soft, even though no one was anywhere nearby. It was as if their conversation was far too intimate to even share with the furniture or the overabundance of socks.

“Did you start doing this Dom thing because… like your parents? Like you wanted to hit back or something?”

Daryl sat back on his heels and looked Rick up and down. “You ask complicated questions, Rick.” 

“So do you. Sir.”

Daryl took a deep breath. “I took a lot of beatings as a kid, yeah. Took a lot when I was whorin’ too. I mean, Zeke would try to protect us but he couldn’t do much when it was happening out in a parked car or a nearby motel room.”

Rick found it unusually difficult to stay in position when he wanted to be physically closer to Daryl as he spoke, but he kept to his place and obeyed Daryl’s request. 

“Didn’t like that shit. Not judging you or anything for getting off on it. To each his own. But I mostly just wanted to do something that got me outta bein’ hit, not necessary because I wanted to do the hittin’.” Daryl stood up and walked around Rick in a circle again as he talked. “First time, I did think about it a little. Like.. you know… I’s exacting revenge on my folks and a couple dozen asshole John’s on some poor accountant that just wanted to get his mind off shit. Felt dirty. Felt wrong.”

Rick felt Daryl’s fingers slide into his hair again and play with curls as he stood behind him out of sight. “Tried to focus on the customers after that. Tried to get into their needs and see it more sexual than abuse… which it really is.”

“Yeah,” Rick answered. “I think I could come just from your hand on my ass.”

Daryl snorted a laugh from behind Rick.

“Are you only putting me on my knees because you don’t know any other way to do this?” Rick asked.

Daryl knelt back down and looked at Rick as he thought about it. “No. I’m putting you on your knees because you like it. And I loved hearing the noises you make. Love seeing you blush all embarrassed but still not afraid to look me in the eyes, desperate for praise and affection.” He leaned in again and pressed a quick kiss to Rick’s lips. “Are you on your knees because _you_ don’t know what else to do with a man?”

Rick’s arms were starting to ache from holding them behind his neck but the ache was so tortuously delicious he dared not move a muscle.

“I’m on my knees because I want to be yours.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, shit. My goal was to get a dick in an ass this chapter but these assholes hijacked my fic and started with all this feelings stuff! I swear these two take over sometime. They are uncontrollable. Maybe they'll be dicks in asses next chapter. Hope this didn't get too mushy for y'all.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... unbeta'd. 
> 
> ...And basically all sex.

Rick moved even though he hadn't been instructed. He positioned himself on his hands and knees and looked up at Daryl.

“Please,” he whispered.

Daryl got on his knees and rubbed a hand over Rick's ass. “Mark me,” Rick pleaded softly purposefully leaving out the sir and the please.

“Keep your eyes on mine as I do it,” Daryl instructed, sounding nowhere near as commanding as usual but Rick still obeyed instantly, keeping his head turned up and his blown-wide eyes glued to Daryl’s. “No talking,” Daryl added. Rick responded with just a quick nod. The anticipation alone had his body already responding, cock hard and dripping, back arched, lips already parted to make way for the first gasp. 

Daryl pulled his hand back and smacked down hard right on the rounded globe of one of his cheeks. Rick rocked forward from the hit and groaned in pleasure. He watched as Daryl's pupil’s grew wider right before his eyes and then the hand came down again. And again. And again. Daryl didn't take his eyes off of Rick's. He took in Rick's reaction like it was ice cold lemonade on a brutally hot afternoon.

The spanking continued for long, lazy minutes. Ten. Maybe fifteen. Maybe fifty. Rick lost track of everything around him except for Daryl. The crack of skin on skin just turned Rick on even more as it echo’d in Daryl’s living room. His ass was on fire from the stings but he didn’t safeword, he didn’t snap, he did stop. Rick communicated his need through their shared gaze and Daryl kept going, heaving deep breaths between each hard slap. Finally, Daryl was so winded he had to stop. He sat back on his heels and bit at his lip, his eyes still not leaving Rick’s.

“I should get some lotion,” he said softly but Rick didn’t want him out of his sight for a second. 

“No,” Rick said and he got to his knees, this sting of the spanking taking his breath away for a moment, then he leaned forward and fell into Daryl, kissing him hungrily, crushing his bare body against Daryl’s jeans and button up, feeling even more _his_ because of it. 

Daryl reciprocated, arms around Rick, careful not to drop them to the rosy red globes of his lover’s rear and he kissed back hard and frenzied like a chained up tiger forced to watch a deer wander freely for hours before being unleashed. He slid his hands up into Rick’s hair, clenching into it fiercely. The kiss was a power struggle, both men wanting to give everything they had in them, and both equally wanting to take what was given. 

Eventually Daryl laid back on the floor pulling Rick on top of him as their lips and tongues chased one another’s around. Rick straddled Daryl and started to rut against his rough jeans before he remembered that there was no reason Daryl couldn’t just take his cock out and fuck him right then and there. They weren’t in the club. No rules.

He broke the kiss and sat up, one leg on either side of an absolutely wrecked Daryl. His ass screamed in pain as it rested against Daryl’s thighs. “Fuuuuck,” Rick moaned hoarsely.

“I should get some lotion,” Daryl said again, panting for breath. 

“You should fuck me,” Rick said aggressively. “Take your cock out and fuck me. I’ve come already every time we’ve been together and you haven’t.”

“You paid me,” Daryl said matter-of-factly. 

Rick ignored that and started unzipping Daryl’s pants and peeling them down his legs. When he went up to pull Daryl’s shirt off he suddenly sensed his hesitancy. “What?” Rick asked. “You don’t want me?”

“Fuck, Rick. Jesus. I want you,” Daryl answered, his voice barely more than a whisper.

“Then why aren’t you fucking me?” Rick asked with a flirty smile.

“I um… I ain’t never topped before.”

Rick sat up again, straddling a now half-naked Daryl. He winced at the sting of his ass and then knelt up higher to keep the pressure off. 

“Are you serious?” Rick asked, cocking his head to the side.

“John’s don’t pay to get fucked, they pay to do the fucking. And I told you I ain’t never had no relationships.” Daryl looked Rick up and down, reaching out to tug at his nipples as he spoke. “Just don’t want you to expect me to be like great at it or anything.”

“Christ, Daryl. I don’t know what to expect, remember? I never had anything in my ass until you started putting things in there.”

Daryl laughed. “Good point. Don’t have any condoms, though.”

Rick shrugged. “You said you been tested. I have too after I found out y’know. Only been with Lori but she apparently been elsewhere so…” 

“Don’t have any lube,” Daryl said, biting on a nail. 

“If I didn’t know any better I’d think you’re trying _not_ to fuck me, Sir. But this rock hard cock of yours seems to be insisting otherwise.”

Daryl slid Rick off of him. “Stay,” he ordered as if he were scolding a naughty puppy. Rick got situated on his hands and knees, waiting excitedly. When Daryl came back, he had lotion and olive oil. “Lotion’s for your ass. Olive oil is all I got for lube.”

“You don’t have to worry about the lotion-”

“Rick!” Daryl yelled, startling him. “You stay in position and you let me rub lotion into your back side. You do not say another word and you take what I’m going to be giving you. Understood?”

Rick’s mouth went dry so he just nodded as he kept his eyes on the floor. 

“You want to be a good boy for me, right?”

Rick nodded again. 

“Then do what I say and don’t argue with me.” Daryl sounded like his confident self again and Rick did not move a muscle as Daryl rubbed the lotion in, the feel of the coolness on the burn was like putting flames out in heaven. Then he felt Daryl pour some of the olive oil down over his crack and a finger was suddenly tracing circles around his rim. He felt the digit breach him and the slick finger moved in and out slowly until it was joined by a second. Rick wanted to scream “Fuck me, please!” but he knew it would make him not a good boy, and he craved that praise from Daryl like it was air. 

Daryl moved Rick around so that he was lying on his back. “Hold your knees back for me, sweetheart. Keep your ass in the air just like that. Wanna watch you while I’m fucking you. Wanna see you come apart on my dick.”

“Jesus, Daryl. I’m gonna come apart from just your fucking words,” Rick whined. “I fucking LOVE to listen to you. Love to be yours. Fuck me. Please. I’ve never wanted anything so fucking bad in my whole life,” Rick babbled. His ass still stung and pulling back his knees was slightly awkward but as soon as Daryl lined up and slowly breached Rick’s entrance with the head of his slick cock, Rick groaned another long low shaky “fuuuuuuck.”

Daryl pressed in slowly and it felt like hours before he was fully seated and the entire time Rick and Daryl kept eye contact, Daryl occasionally breaking it for a kiss. Once he gave Rick enough time to adjust, he started to pull back to the head and press back in. 

“Fuck, Rick. So warm and wet and tight. Holy shit.” He started pumping in and out faster and what started out feeling like a bit of an intrusion to Rick was suddenly becoming an overwhelming sensation of being completely owned, controlled, an intimacy that made the world around them completely fall away like the end of a dream and there was just Rick and Daryl, bound together and trembling in pleasure. 

“I think I’m going to be a very jealous lover, Rick. Cause I don’t want anyone else to ever fucking touch you like this. I want you to belong to me,” Daryl said, his voice raspy and low.

“Want to belong to you,” Rick grunted out with each thrust. “Everything else disappears when I’m with you. I want to be where you take me all the time. Wanna be yours, want you to feel as good as I feel.” 

With that Daryl started rutting with abandon, fucking into Rick like an animal in heat. Rick’s cock was trapped between their stomachs, the olive oil that had leaked all over him making a smooth friction and he felt like he was jumping out of a plane and in free fall. His ass was pleasantly full, the push and drag giving his whole body tingles. The constant sting of his cheeks made him feel like he was in a cocoon of absolute sensation. He reached for his own nipples and tugged and as Daryl watched, he joined Rick in that free fall, that roller coaster that was tipping over the top and then both were whimpering prayers like a Sunday church service. “Jesus Christ’s” and “Oh My God’s”.

Daryl slowed down his thrusting but continued to slowly pump his deflating cock in and out of Rick for as long as he could. Rick was shivering from the intensity of his orgasm. It rocked through him as if it left no stone unturned. He’d never felt so fully consumed by the spasms of his orgasm. Daryl finally rolled off and lay on the floor beside Rick, both of them boneless and gasping for air.

“So like… you wanna go steady?” Daryl asked. And Rick laughed, a hard laugh from his belly and it was a sound he hadn’t heard himself make in years.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For some reason, I'm not sure this worked. Hope to get your thoughts on it and if you think I should continue the story.
> 
> Thanks for all your lovely comments so far! I appreciate each and every one.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry that it took me nearly four months to add to this one! But I finally got in the zone for it this weekend and put together another chapter. Remember, this particular fic is unbeta'd, so please forgive any errors.

Rick sat anxiously in the KingDOM waiting room, hands shaking, foot bouncing uncontrollably. His eyes were still wet and red-rimmed as the tap-tap-tap of his foot made the chain on the lamp next to him jingle with the same rapid speed. He’d changed out of his uniform and showered before he drove, unscheduled, to the club. Thoughts flashed from the calm before the storm, Rick’s gun in hand and aimed, then to the way the water, tinted red from blood, swirled down the drain as he scrubbed himself raw in the shower. He had never been through it before, not in his ten years on the force. The captain had already talked to him about mandated therapy but Rick knew talking to the Atlanta P.D.’s shrink wasn’t the kind of therapy he really needed. He needed Daryl. As soon as humanly possible.

Finally he heard Daryl’s voice around the corner as he said goodbye to his prior client and when the Dom sauntered around the corner to get his next customer, Rick jumped to his feet.

“Rick? What are you doing here? You okay, Sweetheart? What’s wrong?”

“I need you,” Rick said, his voice nasally from all his crying. 

Daryl walked closer and whispered, “You know you can have whatever you need for free when I get off work, Sugar.”

“No. Now,” Rick pleaded, his voice barely above a whisper.

“I have another client…”

“I just paid him two hundred bucks to take his appointment. He said to tell you he’ll reschedule,” Rick said, fighting back a fresh onslaught of tears.

Daryl held Rick’s chin steady and looked in his eyes. “What happened?” he asked. His voice was filled with so much tenderness and concern that Rick started actively tearing up again. 

“I need you to punish me,” Rick said, then he headed down the hallway and turned into the regular room.

As soon as the sound of the door clicked shut behind him, he heard Daryl’s strong, confident voice. 

“Knees.”

And Rick fell to them hard, his shoulders shuttering from his sobs. Daryl knelt down in front of Rick, put a finger under his chin and lifted it so he could look into the other man’s eyes.

“Tell me what happened, Sweetheart.”

Rick shook his head. “The whip. And the hand-cuffs on the ceiling. That’s what I want,” Rick said, his voice shaky and his eyes vacant.

“Rick, why don’t you stand up for me and strip, okay? Then back on your knees.”

Rick obeyed quickly, not understanding why he had to get back down on his knees when he wanted to be cuffed to the ceiling and whipped til he bled.

“You don’t want to talk about it yet, and that’s okay,” Daryl said as he slowly circled Rick, boots clicking as he went.

“But you are here to give up control, remember? To let me take care of you and tell you what to do. And I want you to take a deep breath for me.”

Rick did as he was told, already starting to feel the sense of escape that he usually did with Daryl, the weight starting to slide off his shoulders. _Please help me stop thinking. Turn it off,_ Rick thought.

“Good boy,” Daryl praised, running fingers through Rick’s wild, uncombed curls. “Lean down and rest your forehead on the floor and take another deep breath for me.”

Rick followed Daryl’s command, the nervous shaking of his body starting to slow.

“You want forgiveness for something? Punishment and forgiveness?” Daryl asked.

“Yes, sir.”

“I will cuff you to the ceiling. I’ll whip you, but only three times. I don’t think you realize how much more severe that will feel…”

“I want it more severe,” Rick interrupted. 

“Are you talking back to me, Rick? I thought you always wanted to be my good boy?” 

Rick didn’t respond, rather he took another deep breath as he remained on his knees, bowed down before Daryl. 

“After I whip you, I’m going to use some clips on you. On your nipples, your balls, along your thighs and basically anywhere else I feel like putting them. Trust me, that exercise will clear your mind of whatever else is in there. Do you trust me, Rick?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Okay, then. Stand up and raise your hands above your head so I can get you cuffed.”

Rick obeyed, trying already to clear his mind of everything but Daryl’s husky, calming voice. The cuffs were low enough that Rick could still keep his feet on the ground, but only just barely. He felt Daryl put a silk blindfold over his eyes and everything went dark. 

“Don’t want you peeking when I’m putting you in clips. Half the fun is guessing where the next pinch of pain will be.”

Rick’s heart was racing with anticipation and excitement. He wasn’t sure he fully understood why this was such an outlet for him, but it was. And coming to see Daryl was like going to confession, like begging for acceptance, understanding, and praise from the man that pulled the strings.

“I’m not going to hold back with these three whips, Rick. We’ve played enough for you to understand pain. Is that okay?”

“Yes, sir.”

“What’s your safeword?”

“Red.”

“Good boy,” Daryl said. 

Blinded, Rick listened intently as Daryl walked over to the wall of implements to retrieve the whip. He snapped it against the floor and the sudden noise of it made Rick jump. The pain was going to be delicious, he thought.

Daryl didn’t say anything further and minutes ticked by without a sound from either man. Rick stood still as he felt Daryl circle him again. 

_Crack!_

The first hit was unexpected and out of the blue and Rick’s whole body lurched forward in a subconscious attempt to escape the pain as he gasped from the mixture of pleasure and white, hot fire. 

“Thank you, sir,” RIck mumbled before he’d even realized it. 

Daryl waited a few more minutes in silence, just circling Rick.

 _Crack! Crack!_

That time they came fast, immediately back to back and Rick cried out in pain as his back arched away again from the direction of the burn of the leather whip to his skin. He could feel trickles of blood dripping down his back and three very clear lines that throbbed with pain.

“Hold this for me, Sweetheart,” Daryl whispered into Rick’s ear as he pressed the handle of the whip against Rick’s lips until he opened and bit down on it, the tail of it tickling his leg as it dangled from his mouth. 

“We’re going to clean this up before we do anything else.”

As Rick held the implement between his teeth that was used to assault his own back, he felt Daryl gently tending to the cuts it left. Gentle fingers and cool gel and kisses on his shoulders. Rick’s arms were starting to numb from the position he was in, but he wouldn’t complain. He welcomed the discomfort as much as he welcomed the pain.

Suddenly he heard Daryl whispering by his ear again. “Thank you, Precious,” he said as he pulled the whip from Rick’s mouth. “Now drink for me.”

Daryl held a bottle of water up to Rick’s dry lips and Rick drank obediently until Daryl lowered the bottle back down.

“Good boy,” Daryl whispered. “You are my good boy, aren’t you, Rick?”

“Yes, sir.” 

Rick could feel his cock suddenly at full attention and he wondered if it may have simply been Daryl’s voice that got him hot and desperate.

“Time for the clips, Sweetheart. Are you still good? Your arms okay?”

“I’m good, sir.”

“Rick? You can call me Daryl now. We’ve been on a date and fucked on my living room floor.”

“I’m good, Daryl.”

For a fraction of a moment, the pain and numbness, the whisper of Daryl’s voice against his ear, Rick almost forgot why he’d so urgently come to the KingDOM. He suddenly felt Daryl take his hand and drop a clip into it so he could feel what it was. 

“Just your average, everyday binder clips that you can find in any office on the planet. Got a couple different sizes. You ready to play with me, Rick?”

“Yes, please,” Rick whimpered.

The next thing Rick felt was the cold metal of a clip slowly clamping down on his right nipple. He hissed, but it didn’t feel quite as painful as he’d thought it would. He expected the other nipple to be next, but instead he felt Daryl tugging at his balls as he latched one of the tiny sized clips onto his sack. Rick grunted in surprise at the completely unexpected pinch. The pain in his nipple was starting to throb a bit and his brain tried to absorb all the levels of hurt on his flesh, three whip marks and two tightly pinched clips.

Daryl didn’t say a word as he moved up and down Rick’s body attaching clips that felt like little teeth along his flesh. One on his left inner thigh. One on his other nipple. Four more in a row along his sack. One on his right inner thigh. He gasped and hissed after each one as it continued and continued. Slowly. Quietly. Rick thought of nothing but holding on to the sensation of his pinched skin and the near-dizzying anticipation of where Daryl would be next. His brain was firing with sudden bursts of hurt from the varying degrees of stinging that covered his body.

“Okay, Rick. I’ve got good news and bad news,” Daryl finally said after what felt like hours. “The good news is, I’m out of clips. The bad news is, I forgot to tell you they hurt worse coming off then they did going on.

Rick’s mouth was dry from all his gasping and he just nodded in response to show he understood. His arms were like rubber, his back still ached from the lashings, and his body was sprinkled with stinging pinches like they were the twinkling stars and Rick’s body was the night sky.

“Did this help you escape, Rick? Is your mind clear?”

“Yes. Fuck,” Rick groaned. His mind was doing nothing other than processing sensations and waiting for Daryl to do whatever he wanted to him.

“One at a time,” he whispered, his breath ghosting over Rick’s lips. And Rick felt the first clip come off from a nipple. Pain swirled into the spot where the clip was removed as the blood rushed back to his nipple. He opened his mouth to cry out but his voice was swallowed as Daryl kissed him deep and affectionately. He pulled away with Rick’s bottom lip between his teeth, tugging it a bit before letting it go.

“Only twenty-five more,” Daryl whispered, his voice still close.

He opened one of the tiny ones from Rick’s balls and again kissed the cry out of Rick’s mouth, keeping that bottom lip between his teeth for an extra tug. Rick’s brain was blinking on and off, registering the old pain from the original pinch and the new pain from the clip’s release. His cock, which was now as hard as it could be with a couple small binder clips along the top ridge of his shaft, was twitching with desire each time Daryl leaned in and kissed him.

They continued that way. Slowly. Clip open. Clip off. Rick cries out. Daryl cuts it off with a kiss, biting at Rick’s bottom lip as he backs away. Again and again and again.

Every five clips, Daryl would update Rick on the number left to go. Somewhere around fifteen, Rick was spilling tears, almost more from the relief his mind had gotten than from the pain and punishment of the clips. Daryl then started to lick at a tear trail after each kiss.

When all the clips were finally off, Rick’s body was buzzing with bites and flickers and stings from various levels of pain. His lips were kiss-swollen and his cheeks were damp from tears and Daryl’s tongue.

“Be steady on your feet, Rick. I’m going to uncuff you now and I’ll help you move slowly to your knees, okay?

Rick nodded, not quite remembering how to speak at the moment. He couldn’t even feel the cuffs slip off his wrists because his arms were so numb, but he registered the sound of the lock being opened and felt his body start to fall to the ground. Daryl had him in his arms instantly and lowered him down to his knees as Rick’s arms hung like dead weights by his side.

Once he was down and could steady himself on his knees, he felt Daryl untie the blindfold and slip it off. The light in the room was dim, but Rick’s eyes struggled to adjust and he squinted as he panted like a dog from the sensory overload, pain, pleasure, light, escape, release.

When the light no longer blinding him, he watched as Daryl wordlessly massaged feeling back into both of his arms. Then he knelt behind Rick and massaged his aching shoulders. After Rick drank an entire bottle of water as instructed, Daryl stood back up.

“Crawl over to the couch for me, Sugar. I’m going to sit and you’re going to kneel in front of me.”

Rick struggled to absorb the instruction as his body continued lighting up with stings as he moved. It was heaven and the pain was like a blanket wrapped around him.

“A comfortable kneel, Sweetheart,” Daryl said. “Sit back on your knees. I need you to be comfortable while you tell me what happened today that required you to spend $200 on a session that I’d give you for free anytime you batted your eyes at me outside of this club.”

The crushing reality that showed clearly from the expression on Rick’s face must have slowed Daryl down a bit. “First lay your head against my thigh and breathe for a bit,” he added.

Rick did as instructed as he chased after the feeling of blankness that he’d achieved with the clips. 

Daryl tangled his fingers into Rick’s now-sweaty curls. “You’ve paid your penance here, Rick. You know you’re forgiven. I know you well enough now to know that you are making something your fault that likely isn’t. Think about it, Sweetheart. Is what you did really that bad?”

Rick thought. His body was starting to melt back into itself and he was relaxing into the comfort of Daryl’s hand in his hair and the feel of his jeans against Rick’s cheek. He hadn’t taken the shot. And now a little girl was dead. A little girl that had a name. A doll in her hand. And a future that disappeared in an instant. He relieved the moments again like he had been the entire day until he finally got into Daryl’s comforting arms. He didn’t take the shot...because it wasn’t protocol. Ed Peltier was holding a gun to his own daughter’s head and protocol was not to engage when a weapon was trained on an innocent bystander. But Rick was there, his boots on the ground, and he should have ignored protocol, should have taken the shot. Should have ended it.

He was picturing the pink water swirling down the drain from his shower earlier when Daryl finally spoke again.

“Tell me what happened, Rick,” Daryl said, his voice demanding yet tender.

“I was at a domestic. The man...he had a gun to his daughter’s head and...and…”

“Breathe, Rick. Remember to breathe after every sentence.” Daryl kept playing with Rick’s hair adding tingles of pleasure to the stings and lashes that covered the rest of his body.

“He shot her. Another officer shot and killed him right after and I ran to the child trying CPR for what felt like hours before the ambulance got there and pronounced her DOA.” Rick’s voice was starting to waver again and he fisted his hands, trying to dig into the flesh of his palm with his fingernails.

“That’s terrible, Sweetheart,” Daryl said as he dipped down to kiss Rick on his forehead. “That’s going to hurt. For a long time, I’m sure. But I’m here...for free...to help you in anyway I can. Now, tell me what exactly it was that makes you think this was all your fault. Because I know that’s why your here. Not just from the horrifying events. You can handle events. It’s the feeling of responsibility that you need to punish yourself for.”

Rick was quiet a moment. How could someone know him so well after such little time together? He took a deep breath before Daryl had to remind him. 

“I could have shot him. I had my gun…”

“Why didn’t you?”

“It wasn’t protocol for the situation, but I should have just…”

“So you were following the rules?”

Rick stiffened a bit and sat back up on his knees, Daryl’s fingers slipping out from his curls as he moved. “I let a ten your old girl die on my watch,” Rick answered.

“I would think if not firing at that moment was protocol, then there’s a reason for it. Higher chance of unnecessary death. The odds just weren’t on your side this time, Sugar.” Daryl’s voice never changed when he was soothing Rick this way. It was always gentle and soft and loving like he was talking to a frightened child.

“I could have tried. I could have just...just fucking shot him…”

“And if you did and the child still died?”

Rick’s mind was in a loop, where suddenly in no scenario could he see Sophia surviving.

“Rick, listen to me,” Daryl said slowly, holding Rick’s chin so that he wouldn’t look away. “You had a terrible day. A child died and it was horrifying to see. But you did what you were supposed to. You did what gave the little girl the best chance of survival and it just didn’t work out this time. I want you to say that back to me.”

When Rick didn’t immediately respond, Daryl nudged him, “That was an order, Rick. You come to me to take control from you, to let yourself relax and do nothing but follow orders and be obedient. Say it back to me. You had a terrible day and saw something horrifying, even though you did what was best for the situation.”

“I had a terrible day,” Rick started, tears immediately flooding his eyes. “I saw something horrifying even though I did my job.” 

“Good boy,” Daryl said as he wiped away the tears. “Good boy, Rick.”

Daryl kissed him on the forehead then stood and pulled a set of keys out of his pocket. He pulled one off them off the loop and handed it to Rick.

“Now, I want you to get in your car and drive back to my house. Wait for me there until I’m done my shift. When I get home I want you to be naked in my bed. Stand up, Sweetheart. Get dressed.”

“What are you going to do when you get home?” Rick asked softly, curious and not even sure himself what he needed.

“I’m going to climb into bed with you and hold you while you sleep. Run my hands over your back and up and down your arms, kiss your forehead. And whisper you awake when your eyes flutter with nightmares. Then I’m going to make you breakfast.”

Daryl steadied Rick as he got dressed, still dizzy from the sessions and exhausted from the day. That was it. That was exactly what Rick needed. He fell into Daryl with a kiss that was nothing more or less than pure adoration. And then he left, heading for Daryl's house, as instructed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you eagerly awaiting a next chapter to A Dog's Life, rest assured. It is completed and with my beta. I anticipate being ready to post later this week.


End file.
